Wednesday is the first day high school seniors can submit NCAA letters of intent to play college football. Here is the list of new recruits signed by state schools

UNC, NC State and the rest of their in-state rivals signed a new crop of incoming football talent Wednesday (Rob Kinnan/USA TODAY Sports)

College football’s national signing day is still in early February. But that event has lost much of its luster now that the NCAA has instituted an early period for high school seniors to submit their official letters of intent to the colleges of their choice.

The three-day window began on Wednesday, with teams from around the state inking the majority of their incoming 2018 recruiting classes.

Here the list of new signees, as reported by each school:

UNC

Coach Larry Fedora signed 14 of the 16 players that were committed to the Tar Heels, including six that are planning to enroll early and participate in spring practice. Among the standouts are four-star wide receiver Jordyn Adams, the son of Tar Heels defensive line coach Deke Adams, three-star quarterback Cade Fortin, a late flip from Texas A&M, and four players that led their team to North Carolina state championship games this season.

In all, six of UNC’s newest recruits are from N.C. schools, including four of the state’s top 20 prospects.

“I think we did great,” Fedora said. “I’m happy with every single one of these guys that we have on our roster from the state of North Carolina, and we’ve got to continue to recruit the state of North Carolina has hard as we can, because there’s great players here and we want to keep these kids at home.

Coach Dave Doeren signed 21 players, including a badly needed placekicker and four-star linebacker Payton Wilson, a highly-rated linebacker from Orange High who originally committed to UNC before flipping to the Wolfpack.

Coach David Cutcliffe welcomed 15 new players, nine of which play on the offensive side of the ball. The class includes six North Carolina recruits, along with players from seven other states with four set to enroll early. The Blue Devils loaded up on skill players with three wide receivers — all of which are 6-foot-2 or taller — a running back and four-star quarterback Gunnar Holmberg from Wake Forest’s Heritage High.

Coach Dave Clawson capitalized on his team’s success this season by landing a haul of 21 new players, evenly split with 10 on each side of the ball and one specialist. In addition to talent, Clawson put a premium on leadership, with 17 of the new recruits having served as team captains in high school.

The Deacons only signed three players from North Carolina, but all three — Charlotte quarterback Sam Whiteheart, Hope Mills offensive lineman Mike Edwards and Winston-Salem tight end Blake Whiteheart — were all Shrine Bowl selections.

Six of the new signees will get a head start on their college careers by enrolling at Wake Forest in January.

“We feel like we have a good class,” Clawson said. “Like always, there’s people coming in trying to flip our recruits and they’re getting new offers. Maybe in the past, if that happened, kids would be more interested. But I think they’ve seen what we’ve done, the games we’ve won, the bowl we’re going to and the facilities we’re building and I think they feel Wake Forest is even more of a solid choice now than it was when they made it five or six months ago.”

Coach Scottie Montgomery addressed his team’s most glaring need by signing 13 of his 19 new recruits on the defensive side of the ball. It’s a group that includes seven defensive backs, including highly regarded junior college transfer Warren Saba, who will have three years of eligibility left.

“In this league, you’ve got to stay close to people in the passing game and then on the perimeter,” said Montgomery, whose defense ranked dead last nationally in points and yardage allowed per game. “We needed some physicality to be added, but we also needed that physicality to have speed and natural playmaking ability. Natural playmakers is what it came down to taking those defensive backs.”

While Montgomery loaded up on defense, the crown jewel of the class is quarterback Holton Ahlers. The son of ECU’s football PA announcer, Ahlers turned down offers from several SEC schools, including Florida, to stay close to home and play for the Pirates.

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